Step 1:
Considering Change
Goal: Librarians
are not receiving any training to best apply mobile apps in their libraries and
the school curriculum.
We think a
MOOC on mobile apps for librarians and teachers could help in the training
·
The challenge is to make stakeholders/users
interested in this solution
What issues are you passionate about
tackling within your system? I would change the way Library schools deal
with training, the passivity of Librarians Associations, and the bureaucracy at
the government level, so that the Ministry of Education, is not willing to take
prompt action.
·
What is the
impact on student learning if this problem is solved? Librarians and teachers are my primary
users. Students are using mobile
devices very frequently at schools, but librarians and teachers lack adequate
training to guide them through content that is reliable to the curriculum and
interesting to them.
·
Is this
challenge important to other people besides you? In other countries there is a movement
toward a broader use of TIC in education. Colombia, for instance, is a country
with great development in this area. Our Ministry of Education is taking steps
but in a very limited scope, and the FOD (Fundación Omar Dengo) has been
interested in the matter for some time, but it reaches just small groups of
students and teachers, and librarians are never invited to participate. We
consider that a MOOC is an inexpensive solution to the problem.
·
We already
contacted personnel at those instances and tried to align our challenge to
match up with the issues they are working on.
·
Is your
challenge manageable in scope? We´ve
been working on a prototype that includes six units of six weeks each, and those
units can be taken at any time and in any order. It will take a year and a
halve to complete the whole MOOC.
Explain your challenge concisely and
clearly, ideally in one sentence.
As a librarian I know that school
librarians are not prepared to face the challenge to use mobile apps at school
and in connection to the curriculum. Designing a MOOC on mobile apps for
librarians and teachers is a way to meet the challenge.
Step 2: Research (Discover)
Goal: Teachers and
librarians are being affected by the large amount of technologies that students
are using and they don´t know.
School administrators and the governmental departments
are starting to apply solutions in small amounts and in a very timid manner,
due to limitations in budgets and connectivity.
This challenge goes to all students, parents and
stakeholders in the communities.
We have being using the social network to contact
librarians, in the first place, because they don´t receive classes on the
matter at the universities. Mostly they are waiting for an initiative at the
governmental level, an invitation to participate that never shows up.
These are some of the questions we´ve been
asking them:
1.
Are you receiving any training on the application
of mobile apps to the school curriculum?
2.
Do you think your students need these kind of
training?
3.
How about internet connectivity at your school?
4.
Are there many students and teachers using
iPhones, or tablets?
5.
Would you be interested in attending a MOOC on
the subject?
Step 3: Thinking About Needs (Focus)
Goal: Craft a
problem statement that reflects user(s) needs.
Talking to librarians on the web revealed they felt
they had no role in the ALFIN policies conducted by the Ministry of Education
and its independent Informatics Office called FOD (Omar Dengo Foundation). The
policies were dictated from top down and they had no participation at all.
Design thinking is a tool that allows for participation and values everyone´s
opinions and ideas.
After conducting research, we realize that certain
needs of librarians and teachers are not being met:
·
Both
professional groups need to receive training in up to date technologies being
used in other schools and countries.
·
Students
use their mobile phones and tablets to use apps without guidance or relevance
to the school curriculum.
How might we find a suitable method to deliver
instruction and guidance, so that teachers and librarians keep up to date in
the large world of mobile apps, and its use in connection to the school
curriculum?
Step 4: Brainstorm Solutions &
Evaluate
Goal: Whether or
not use design thinking to solve our problem: to design a MOOC to train
librarians and teachers. Following sticky notes used in the first issue:
Design thinking seems like a very easy
method to use, and we present a prototype to design a MOOC
·
Constraints:
There is very limited resources for buying an eLearning solution. So, we have
to think of a solution that is free.
·
Opportunities:
We already have prepared the contents that goes with every unit
·
What
solution seems particularly efficient? What solution best fits user needs? What
idea could quickly be piloted? Because of that we choose to design a pilot to
carry on with a few librarians and teachers at public schools.
Step 5: Develop Action Plan (Prototype)
|
Challenge
|
Design a
MOOC to train librarians and teachers to use mobile apps that apply to the
school curriculum
|
|
User
needs
|
Librarians
and teachers feel they are not taken into consideration when TIC policies are
discussed, and when training is needed
|
|
Solution
idea
|
A
prototype of a MOOC is presented for the discussion among a small group of
school librarians and teachers
|
|
Action
steps and impact
|
A pilot
plan is defined to see if the conditions to implement a MOOC at public
schools are met
A
questionnaire is sent through the web to anyone interested in participate
|
|
Steps
towards implementing
|
1. Set up a blog and a web page to
explain the whole project
2. Use Design thinking examples of
the best approaches to the inclusion of mobile apps in the school curriculum
3. Iterate
4. Get feedback
|
|
Steps
(future)
|
1. Use the feedback to create a
prototype of a MOOC on the subject
2. Present the project to government
authorities
|
|
Potential
impact
|
Librarians
and teachers will empower from a better understanding of the possibilities of
using design thinking to approach mobile learning
|
|
Help
needed
|
Support
from colleagues, library schools and similar instances
|
|
Indication
of success
|
We try to
use badges to give to those willing to participate and to have them stored in
the web.
|
·
Step 6:
Share Action Plan & Iterate (Try)
A pilot
plan is showed in https://sdeyanira.wordpress.com/ for librarians and teachers that might be
interested in participate. And the following is posted in the blog:
·
I
have worked on designing a MOOC on mobile apps for librarians and teachers. Now
I am seeking honest, constructive
feedback on this draft so you can improve it. Would you like to become a
partner in this design
process?.
·
You
can find the prototype for first Unit in here:
·
Please
share your comments in our FB site “Bibasi Bibliotecas”
·
What
specific elements of this solution do you like? Why?
·
What
specific elements of this solution do you dislike? Why?
·
Would
you consider using this solution? Why or why not?
·
What
do you find intuitive about this solution versus confusing?
·
How
might you improve this solution idea?
·
What
facets of the solution do you want to know more about?
Step 7:
Reflect and Peer Feedback (Reflect & Share)
For your deliverable:
·
We´ve been
working on this idea of a MOOC for over a year but little interest is showing
on the part of users and stakeholders.
·
Design
thinking seems like the right idea to get everyone involved in a solution and
to wake up their enthusiasm.
·
Changes to
the action plan:
1. Set up a blog and a web page to
explain the whole project
2. Use Design thinking examples of the
best approaches to the inclusion of mobile apps in the school curriculum
3. Iterate
- Get feedback
At the beginning we had only a blog to explain the whole project, and
after iteration we added points 2 to 4.
·
Unexpected
or surprising: the process showed me that using DT we can take small units to
work with them in a very simple and easy way, and that we can and should invite
all participants to join the process. No one should be left behind.
